Dragonia
by Dixxy Mouri
Summary: A year after the disappearances of the other three, Rowen and Ryo find out there's more to their destiny than just Mystical armors. New friendships are formed as new enemies are made in the fantastic world of Dragonia, a place where dragons rule the sky.
1. Appendix

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Dragonia

Please note that the following is NOT the fanfiction _Dragonia_ by Dixxy. This is simply an appendix that talks a little bit about the land and its history to give you some background. This is so Lucky doesn't become something similar to a Hollywood tour guide. "And to your left you'll see a castle. Built in blah, blah, blah. . ."

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The Four Countries of Dragonia

Dragonia consists of five continents. To get to almost any of the continents there are boats and ferries to take you to almost anyplace you want to go. For a traveler or a small group, the cost is free. The boat captains charge high prices for merchants and larger groups to make up for the lost profit.

There are small islands scattered about the world of Dragonia, though they are generally uninhabited, owned by hermits, or used as vacation getaways. Some of the larger islands are home to entire villages of fishermen, tailors, and other trades people. These villages are independent and are not owned by any of the four super powers.

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No Name Land

The nature of the smallest continent is shrouded in mystery as there has never been a settlement on any of its shores. Most of the explorers who trekked there have never returned. The one explorer who did return was a young sailor named Rowen whose boat washed apon the shore. Because he was the only person to ever return from No Name Land, he was considered to be the luckiest man alive. Since then, many parents have chosen to name their sons Rowen in hopes of their child to have good luck throughout their life.

Though the sailor didn't say much about what was on the island, he reported it as having very dense vegetation and very tall trees that are still considered to be the tallest in the entire world. It is suspected that animals of some sort live on the continent, but no one knows what these animals are.

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Fuoco

Fuoco is largely a mining country. The land consists largely of mountains, caves, and valleys in which the people mine ores, precious stones, and other minerals for their livelihood. Most of the country is very cold, but several hot springs exist throughout the continent, most of which serve as the center for towns and villages. Because of these hot springs, farms are functional and vegetation can grow.

Because of how far each town is from each other, there is no central government, though the leaders of each town and city meet once a year for the Great Summit to discuss political issues and problems in each town. In the event of an emergency, the towns may send a messenger to the nearest town for assistance.

Fuoco does the majority of its trade with the artisans and tradesmen of Terra, though it sells coal and other useful minerals to all three of the super powers. There is also a large business stemming from the hot springs which act as a getaway for weary travelers.

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Terra

Terra is the largest of the continents as well as the most populated. The land is a mix of farmland and forest land with a mild climate all year round. The people are considered to be cheerful, friendly, and willing to lend a helping hand to a perfect stranger.

The country is a pure monarchy, though unlike most other monarchies power is passed from mother to daughter unless no daughter was born. In this case power would be passed to the eldest son's wife. Women are regarded very highly due to their role in nature, which is to give life. Men are considered to be the protectors of women and expected to treat every woman the same way they would the Queen. Many men hold positions of power in addition to women.

Most of the people of Terra are artisans and trades people, and at that, considered to be the best in the entire world of Dragonia. Because of how prosperous the people of this land are, the boat captains give them a slight discount to travel from port to port because of how frequently they travel and the large cargo they bring with them.

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Acqua

Acqua is a continent that consists largely of entertainment facilities. Situated in an extremely warm climate, the people generally dress for the extreme heat with loose fitting clothing or. . . little clothing. Due to the nature of the country's economy, some of the business owners are dishonest and greedy, though most businessmen are generally good-natured and honest- after all, lying is bad for business!

The government, like Terra's, is a monarchy. Unlike the tradesman's country, however, the men of the royal family are notorious womanizers who take advantage of strip clubs, prostitution rings, and burlesque houses. The people of Terra rarely travel here casually due to this aspect of the culture.

Acqua is the least active of the countries in terms of exporting goods but import the most goods- they make enough money to survive on their services. They do, however, have the largest crime rate in terms of murder, rape, robbery, and fraud. Because of this Dragon Kin from Aria are often called to help Acqua law enforcement keep the peace.

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Aria

Aria is the homeland of the Dragon Kin. It is the only country with four seasons, going through a spring, summer, fall, and winter each year. Aria has no major industry, preferring to have an even mix of the industries of the other continents (though admittedly the entertainment in Aria is much cleaner than that found in Acqua).

The people of Aria- excluding the Dragon Kin, who have their own ruling system- elect one person for life as their ruler, called simply the Ruler. Each town also elects a consultant to aid the Ruler and keep him or her connected to the people. In case of a tyrant, all of the consultants must agree to have him or her assassinated, usually by a Dragon Knight, Maid, or Matron. From there a new Ruler is chosen.

Despite this, Aria is most notable for the Dragon Kin, whose home is base in Aria.

Kind of.

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The Dragon Kin

The Dragon Kin have been a part of Dragonia for so thousands of years. In short, a Dragon Kin is a human being with a connection to a dragon and a sword. All three of these factors form an intimate (no, not THAT kind of intimate) relationship. This relationship is what makes the Dragon Kin such formidable opponents- it's like facing three people at the same time due to these connections. In essence, any number of Kin is actually worth three times their actual number.

In general, the Kin and sword are the main fighting forces in the trio. A Kin can use magical attacks with their sword and dragon based on the breed of their dragon. The dragon plays the role of an advisor, trusted friend, and assistant in combat. If a Dragon Kin of the Knight rank or higher casts the correct spell, a dragon can grow several times its normal size, which allows them to fly their Kin and several passengers around for means of simple transportation or a battle in the sky. Usually a loose sense of telepathy exists in these relationships, though some Kin have a much stronger or much weaker connection.

There are several "levels" of the Dragon Kin that form a sort of social pyramid. Unlike most other pyramids, however, the lower classes are not treated poorly (though they don't have as much power or as many privileges). This is because one is not born into high status- to get to any of the higher levels, one must work there. EVERYONE starts out at the bottom. Naturally those of higher rank are granted respect for their hard work to get where they are, but in most situations they would not be treated any differently from anyone else.

Anyone has the potential to be a Dragon Kin, though it IS something they are born with. For each dragon born, there is a Kin for them, though there is no dragon for every human. A person learns they are Kin when their sword or Cadet Pendant appears to them while their dragon is near. This does not always happen automatically and it sometimes takes a desperate situation or a Dragon Witch or Wizard (explained later) to activate.

Dragon Kin do NOT have to be from Aria, or even Dragonia at all. However, these Kin are harder to track down as they may or may not come from a world familiar with magic and dimensional travel, which Dragonia is. No one is sure WHY this occurs, but it does.

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Dragon Cadets

Dragon Cadets make up part of the lowest class of Dragon Kin as well as the smallest. Dragon Cadets are Kin who have found their dragons prior to their sixteenth birthday, which is considered a rare event. Until they turn sixteen, they cannot evolve to the next level (Knight, Maiden, or Matron status) and their sword takes the form of a pendant. The pendant changes shape when the Cadet comes of age. Until then, the pendant is a purely defensive talisman that will create a protective bubble around Cadet and dragon until danger passes. There are not many Dragon Cadets as most Kin are sixteen or older when they learn they are Kin.

The pendant may appear to someone older than sixteen if their dragon is absent. They would not be considered a Cadet in this VERY rare event, though they would not be given the title of Tamer, either. There is no name for this unusual rank as there is no need for such a title due to the small number of Kin this happens to.

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Dragon Tamers

Most Kin start out at this level and most of the Kin stay at this level. A Kin becomes a Tamer either by receiving their dragon and sword after they turn sixteen or, if the Kin was a Cadet, on their sixteenth birthday at midnight. This is the most basic and peaceful of all levels in the hierarchy. Tamers also make up a vast majority of all Kin. Unless there is a time of **extreme** unrest, Tamers are not generally called into battle. As a Tamer, these Kin are allowed a weekly allowance and are often given discounts at different businesses around Dragonia.

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Dragon Knights, Maidens, and Matrons

This class is the first class of any real significance. Most generally referred to as the Knight class, a Kin must take a test to become any of these titles. To do this, Tamers study under a Dragon Lord or Lady for a period of two to three months, during which time they'll undergo strenuous tests and obstacles, some of which ARE life-threatening. Once the final test has been passed, those who lasted gain rank.

Each of the above titles are all considered equal and only differ between each individual Kin. A Dragon Knight is any male at this rank, a Maiden is any virginal female and a Matron is any non-virginal girl (even if the girl is not married). Knights, Maidens, and Matrons do differ slightly in how their powers work and all three armors have a different basic structure.

At this level, the Kin will gain a light suit of armor and the ability to "hide" their sword away in a jeweled choker that appears as a result of their gained rank. Depending on the situation, the dragon can also escape into this gem. The allowance is doubled and more privileges are added.

A Tamer may also become a Dragon Knight/Maiden/Matron if an already existing Legion is willing to accept a new member. This test is not necessarily considered to be more or less dangerous, though it is much longer as it requires the Tamer to travel with the legion for six months (hence the danger) and then beat at least one of the others in a sword match. During this match, the Knight/Maiden/Matron slips into a state of unconsciousness to avoid any emotions get in the way of "letting" the other person win. This may end in tragedy if the Tamer fails to win the match and is killed. For this reason Legions rarely accept new members, and if they do, they usually choose the worst swordsman in the Legion.

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First Knight/Maiden/Matron

The Kin who performs, in the eyes of the Dragon Lord or Lady, best in a Dragon Knight Test, is given this special title. They act as the leader of the Legion, have a higher salary (slightly more than doubled), and have almost all of the privileges a Lord or Lady has. A First Knight will usually have a cape in addition to their armor as well as an earring in the shape of a flying dragon. This earring becomes a part of the Kin and can NEVER be removed, no matter how sharp the blade or how strong the magic. In a way, it's like a cockroach.

With the title of First Knight also comes extra responsibility. The First Knight must undergo additional training with their Dragon Lord in fields such as leadership, how to handle large crisis situations, and reporting what he or she and their legion have done. Usually this means the First Knight and his or her Legion stay in the Dragon capitol city for a number of months before becoming an active team of Dragon Knights.

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Dragon Lord/Lady

The next highest ranking in the hierarchy of the Dragon Kin, Dragon Lords make up a very small percentage of all Kin. Though they hold powers that far exceed those of the Knights they train, their role is more political in the function of the Kin. They rarely fight, though it is considered very bad news for the opponent if they decide to fight.

Becoming a Dragon Lord or Lady involves no test. The Dragon Mage and Sorceress must jointly agree to make the Knight, Maiden, or Matron a Lord or Lady, then approach the said person on the matter. The potential Lord or Lady has the right to decline the offer. If they change their mind, the offer stands as long as the Mage and Sorceress are still in power.

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The Dragon Mage and the Dragon Sorceress

The highest attainable rank in the Dragon Kin, the Dragon Mage and Sorceress are the most powerful of all the Kin (if you thought pissing off a Lord or Lady was a bad idea, don't even think about attacking these two). As joint rulers, the Mage and Sorceress run everything in the Dragon capitol and act as generals during times of war. People from all four countries see the Dragon Mage and Sorceress as important figure heads.

The Dragon Mage and Sorceress are chosen after the previous rulers pass away. A sacred rune chooses the new rulers. The new rulers must not be married, as the new Mage and Sorceress are married to each other within a week. They are then expected to bear a child within two years. This child has no specific name or rank, but once their parents feel they are old enough they do have the right to join major councils or committees.

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Dragon Breeds

There are several different breeds of Dragons in many combinations. Dragons are classified by two elements- one major, one minor. The major element determines the main source of power for the Kin, and the minor element decides how these powers may be affected by location, time of day, and other factors.

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The Major Elements

The major elements are as follows: Wind, Thunder, Water, Frost (Ice), Earth, Fire, Mystic, Light, Bard, and Venom. Each of these dragons draws a different kind of magical power. These breeds are the second term by which a dragon is defined. Example: Fire, Earth, ect.

The rarest dragon breed is Mystic. Only a few dozen are known to exist in the entire world of Dragonia while most other breeds range well into the hundreds. The most common breeds are Fire, Water, and Wind, though there is also a large number of Venom and Thunder dragons.

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The Minor Elements

There are many minor elements: Morning, Noon, Night, North, South, East, West, Dark, and Holy. These minor elements can apply to ANY dragon breed except for Mystic, which has its own minor breeds (Elf, Fairy, and Pixie). Not all major and minor elements can co exist- there is no such thing as a Dark Light dragon or a Holy Venom dragon. Also, some of the major elements have minor elements that only apply to them. Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Purple are all minor elements to Thunder and Swamp, Forest, and Meadow minor elements are only found amongst the Venom element.

There are rumors of Star, Crystal, Gold, and Silver minor elements existing. These rumors go back thousands of years to a time before written records were kept. No historian has ever found solid proof of these dragons existing, nor has anyone ever seen a dragon of any of these minor breeds.

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Dragoran

Dragoran is the base of operations for the Dragon Kin. Here, the Dragon Mage and Sorceress live and rule with the aide of several Dragon Lords, Knights, Tamers, and Wizards (further down). It's considered to be one of the most fantastic places in all of Dragonia to visit, though getting there is a bit tricky. Some would rather try to open those little packets of peanuts they give you on airplanes.

Dragoran is something of a sixth continent in Dragonia- it's a giant floating island half the size of Aria! Flying just below the clouds, the view from the island is said to be the most breathtaking in all of Dragonia.

The entire island is a representation of an intimate balance between civilization and nature. Buildings are build around the natural forests and wildlife on the island, adding to the already mystical feel of the continent. It isn't rare to find atriums inside of buildings that contain patches of grass, fruit orchids, or even entire farms.

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Dragon Falls

The only part of Dragoran that extends to the continent of Aria, Dragon Falls is a waterfall that falls from a lake on Dragoran (known as Sky Lake) into the middle of a lake below (Crystal Lake). Crystal Lake was possibly formed by the waterfall itself due to what is known about the laws of erosion. The waters of both lakes are considered to be the best tasting and cleanest in all of Dragonia, and some healers insist that the water can work miracles. Because of this thousands of people flock to the Falls each year in hopes of health and good luck.

Crystal and Sky Lakes are also the sites where normal people can enter and leave Dragoran by either dragon back, flying boats (which look more like decorative soup bowls than boats), or teleportation. Due to the dangers of the teleportation system (as in only half of you making it there), only cargo is allowed to travel this way.

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The Dragon Castle

An incredibly huge structure said to contain well over five-hundred-_trillion_ acres of floor space (and that's a modest estimate!), the Dragon Castle is the largest man-made structure in not only Dragonia, but also in the Nether Realm AND the Mortal Realm. It encompasses well over half of the continent. The glistening white palace, like every other building on Dragoran, was built around the wildlife and contains several small atriums. No one is sure how many people the palace can fit, though because of how many floors it has, it may very well be able to hold every man, woman, child, and dragon in all of Dragonia!

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The Heart of the Kin

Located in the center of the castle, the Heart of the Kin is the main hub of Dragon Kin business. This is where the Dragon Mage and Sorceress as well as the majority of the Dragon Lords live. Several studies, libraries, and training rooms can be found within the walls of this area. Councils meet here regularly and audiences with high ranking Dragon Kin occur here.

This is the most restricted area in the entire continent, though getting in isn't a complete horror show- it's simply a matter of passing the inspection of two Dragon Knights (not necessarily First Knights) to make sure your intentions aren't bad. A person is allowed back into the Heart of the Kin indefinitely.

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Lavara Springs

A large network of hot springs similar to the ones found in Fuoco. Here, people can come and relax after a long day. Masseuses, therapists, and entertainers are all available in one of the most casual parts of the Dragoran. This is a popular meeting place for the residents of the Dragoran.

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Moonlight Atrium

The Moonlight Atrium is the largest indoor atrium in the Dragon Castle. A large field surrounded by trees, it's a bright, relaxing spot where people come for picnics and casual sparring. The dome over the top of the atrium provides a good source of sunlight and one of the best places to see the stars as clouds never travel over it. This is another popular meeting place for friends and business associates.

It is also considered a popular make-out spot amongst teenagers.

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Other Dragon People

Not all people affiliated with the Dragon Kin are Kin themselves. Other jobs exist for normal humans to partake in if they wish to help the Dragon Kin if they aren't one themselves. For the most part, these are small office jobs such as secretaries and services like physicians and bankers, but other jobs are unique to the Kin.

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Dragon Wizards

Normal humans can also attain the power of dragon magic as every human does have an affiliation with either Fire, Light, Water, Earth, or Air magic (though some people do carry more than one of these powers, and in rare cases, all of them- they are called Omni Elementals). Because of this, the element can be drawn out and intensified to be used by the owner. This is how Dragon Wizards and Witches come into being.

Most Dragon Legions travel with at least one Dragon Wizard, though some prefer to rely on their own numbers for support in battle. Still, they are considered to be excellent advisors and useful in battle or other awkward situations. Their spells may also provide shelter, food, healing, warmth, or other survival necessities.

In order to have the procedure done, an interviewing process begins. Basically, the Kin and already-existing Dragon Wizards want to know if someone has a noble reason for becoming a Dragon Wizard or Witch. Else wise, they will be denied the power extraction and sent on their way.

Dragon Wizards usually have a magical item to aide them in their magic, often times some sort of a wand or staff. This item is crafted for them by a Dragon Smith (see below) based on the kind of power they can exert and how well they'll be able to handle it- larger items are given to bigger and taller people.

Wizards also have the option of choosing a familiar, though this usually doesn't occur. A very special relationship between the Wizard and animal must exist before the animal can become a familiar or else one or both parties may get hurt or possibly even die. The familiar usually acts as an assistant in spell casting and often times has the power to communicate telepathically with their Wizard.

Several classes are available for new Wizards and Witches who wish to learn more about their new powers, though only a few are required before they can join a Legion. Typically these are very basic classes that surround simple healing, attack magic, defense magic, and proper techniques.

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The Dragon Smiths

Considered to be the best black smiths in all of Dragonia (as well as a result of Dixxy's adoration for Presea of _Magic Knight Rayearth_), the Dragon Smiths are responsible for making weapons. They use magic to help them build everything from daggers to catapults with precision, detail, and beauty that has never been matched. They are also the only weapon smiths who can repair Dragon swords and several weapons bearing magical properties.

Their most important job, however, is to create the talismans for Dragon Wizards and Witches. These staves, wands, pendants, rings, necklaces, and other miscellaneous items have one unique characteristic- they are completely indestructible. No one is exactly sure why this is, but a Dragon Wizard's talisman is the only weapon in existence that cannot be damaged or destroyed (much like Sage's hair ).

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Miscellaneous

Dixxy's Note: This section, more than the others, is highly subject to change

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Demone

According to legend, Demone is an evil demon who resides somewhere in Dragonia, though no one is exactly sure where (though due to its nature many people venture to guess that he may be on No Name Land). Very few people have ever seen him and lived to tell about it, but those who survived tell stories of a man who drinks blood from a golden goblet- the source unknown- and has bright blue skin.

Demone is the Master of the Eternal Darkness, a strange force that is an odd mix between an entire dimension and a mass of magical energy. It is said that once a person is tossed into this abysmal darkness they will wander about it forever, unable to find the way back out.

Though his intentions are unknown, it's suspected that he wants to expand the Eternal Darkness so it consumes all of Dragonia, sending the people of the land into an eternity of chaos and despair. Others think the Eternal Darkness is simply a weapon of his that he uses against people he doesn't like and has no intentions to take over or destroy Dragonia.

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Rune Fairies

Aside from humans and dragons, there is one other major population scattered across the land- Rune Fairies. Rune Fairies are very childlike in appearance, even if they are well over a thousand years old. Generally peaceful, friendly, and carefree, the Rune Fairies are considered to be trustworthy and reliable friends. They will do anything if they believe it will save or help someone dear to them.


	2. Prologue, Part One

Dragonia

By Dixxy

Prologue One: Ordinary World

(Rowen)

My life hasn't been the same without you here.

Came in from a rainy Thursday on the avenue  
Thought I heard you talking softly

The rain had been pouring down in buckets that day, and I'd gotten stuck walking home in it without so much as an umbrella or even a thick sweater- just me, a T-shirt, some old jeans, and a worn out pair of sneakers. Completely broke, I couldn't even call Mia for a ride home from the library.

The library had become a place I ran to when I wanted to escape the horrible reality I'd suddenly found myself facing. The world was something I didn't want to face anymore. My life was crumbling apart before my very eyes and all I wanted was to run away and never come back. I hated my life and everything to do with it. I just wanted to run away to another lifetime, but no matter how fast or far I ran, I could never get away.

I finally reached Mia's house to find that the lights were all off and the Jeep was gone. I swore under my breath, unsure of where they might've gone. To look for me, maybe? I sighed in exasperation. That figures. As soon as Mia, Ryo, and Yuli get back I'll get a lecture about making them worry. Not too bad at all. I've had much worse. This time it was more of a, well, miscommunication, I guess. But like they'd care. At least I was able to get home.

_I turned on the lights, the TV and the radio  
Still I can't escape the ghost of you_

Even after nearly a year, the house just didn't feel right. Even though they were only there for a short time, they were part of a delicate balance that made the house run smoothly. Shouldn't there be a familiar blonde kendo master relaxing on the couch with a cup of tea and good book? Shouldn't there be a brawny, happy young man be playing video games in the basement with Yuli? And what about the auburn haired English youth feeding the fish in the fish tank that had been eerily quiet for the past few months? Why aren't these empty spaces filled?

The hum of the TV does nothing to ease this rush of depression. Ever since the accident happened, I keep having them. Sometimes I wonder if what happened has made me manic depressive or even bipolar. Wouldn't surprise me- I've been on an emotional roller-coaster since before the war with Talpa even began. When I first met Sage.

I snorted. _Sage._ Most people didn't know the real Sage. The Sage most people knew was a polite, proper, and at times a little arrogant jerk who spent most of his time meditating or practicing kendo. He was the kid who never even looked at a pair of jeans most of the time and would rather stay at home then set foot at even the tamest of parties.

That wasn't the Sage I knew. The Sage most people knew was the result of his family constantly trying to suppress the REAL Sage. The REAL Sage was just like any other kid I knew- he liked to dance and write fantastic stories about faraway lands and people. He was the kind of person who would run out in the middle of a rainstorm just for the sake of being in the storm. When he laughed it was like tinkling bells in the light-hearted manner he did it. But this REAL Sage was rarely seen.

You have to realize Sage was brought up under the Date clan, a very prestigious family in Japan. I wouldn't call them rich or wealthy in terms of materialistic means, but they had a famous heritage reaching back into the days of the samurai. They owned a very prestigious dojo that most other masters wouldn't challenge. His family was very proper and calm, with maybe the exception of his younger sister, but they were a very traditional group.

Not Sage. Sage was the oddball in the family, and the first glance of him would tell you that. Everyone else had dark hair and dark eyes. My best friend had a wild mane of blonde hair and vibrant violet eyes. That much was a dead giveaway as to how different he was. But when you really got to know him like I did you saw it was more than that.

I guess Sage was born with his wild, carefree disposition. But his family didn't like that, so he spent a lot of time being spanked, sent to a time out area in his basement, and all but beaten bloody into the lifestyle his family chose natural. He built up the arrogant snot act as a defense mechanism against his family. Sage built himself a cage to keep the real him locked inside.

That's what he was, too. A caged bird.

We met when I was twelve and he was eleven. It was a chance meeting. My mom had decided to take me on an excursion to interview the Date clan for whoever it was she was working for at the time. I quickly found myself bored with the adults, consisting of a married couple and an elderly gentleman, so I wandered off to see if I could find anything of interest.

What I found, or rather heard, was the sound of the tinkling laughter. I followed it and saw my soon-to-be best friend playing in the mud. He was covered head to toe in the brown much, covered so thoroughly I didn't know he was blonde until much later. I crept closer, curious, and then he saw me. Poor Sage looked like a deer caught in a headlight. He started to stutter. I knelt down by the mud puddle and swirled my finger around in it, asking why he was so nervous. Sensing that I wasn't a danger, he smiled and asked me if I wanted to play.

When my mom and Sage's father found us we got the verbal beating of our lives. Mr. Date dragged up both to the side of the house, stripped us down naked, and hit us with a hose- that's when I found out Sage was a blonde- and began to mutter something about stupid kids.

I don't know how, but that experience brought us together. Before my mother and I left, Sage and I exchanged contact information and we became pen pals. Letters became weekly events in our young lives, and at times it was all I cared for. When we got older the two of us would sneak off to see each other and act like kids. The two of us were free-spirits in a carefree world.

_What has happened to it all?  
Crazy, some would say,  
Where is the life that I recognize?  
Gone away..._

But now my best friend was gone. It started the day we learned we were both Ronin Warriors. We found our armor orbes, showed them to each other, and felt some relief in knowing that we knew someone else who had found this strange force. Sage started to teach me how to fight, and I found myself getting good at it. I was a quick study with a bow and arrow, something that bewildered my friend. We dubbed the force "It" due to the lack of a better name.

"It" frightened us.

When we felt that "It" was getting close, we agreed to meet in Toyama, a city that had been pulling at us for a while. I was sixteen and Sage was fifteen. We had agreed to meet at a small motel on the outskirts of the city. I got there first with next to nothing to my name. It was raining that day, too. I sat under an awning marking the decks of the second story rooms, perched on a bench.

Sage arrived with a dazed look on his face. When I saw him I knew something was wrong, and I rushed to his side, escorting him into the room I'd managed to secure for us. He was soaked to the bone, his hair was a mess, and he was hugging himself nervously. I took his backpack from him and sat him down. Before I could say a word, he broke down and cried right there.

Sage had just found out he'd been adopted. Not only that, abandoned as an infant.

I held Sage for at least an hour as he poured out his emotions to me. He was angry with his parents for not telling him- his grandfather had broken the news to him because the old man somehow knew what Sage and I were going through. Sage told me that he felt worthless and unloved. He sobbed, upset because his real parents had, evidently enough, not wanted him. I cried that night, too. I hated seeing him like that.

I promised him that I would always care about him. No matter what.

But I won't cry for yesterday, there's an ordinary world,  
Somehow I have to find.  
And as I try to make my way, to the ordinary world...  
I will learn to survive

But those days were gone forever. Sage was gone. After everything we went through and everything we did together, they were only memories now. Memories of one of the greatest people I knew. Memories of a carefree laughter that tinkled like bells. Memories of my best friend.

That was all I had.

_Passion or coincidence once prompted you to say  
"Pride will tear us both apart"  
Well now pride's gone out the window cross the rooftops, run away,  
Left me in the vacuum of my heart._

Once, between the battles with Talpa, sometime while Ryo was still out after using the Inferno, we sat down on the roof of Mia's house and just talked. We talked about a lot of things, but then you pointed out that we were both men with a lot of pride. "Mia kinda pointed that out to us. Remember, at the very beginning? None of us could work together," was what he'd said to me. "We can't let our pride get in the way of what's really important- sure a personal victory is nice, but we can't try to do this by ourselves. If we don't remember that, we'll fall apart."

_What is happening to me?  
Crazy, some would say,  
Where is my friend when I need you most?  
Gone away..._

I'm falling apart Sage. . .

_But I won't cry for yesterday, there's an ordinary world,  
Somehow I have to find.  
And as I try to make my way, to the ordinary world...  
I will learn to survive_

But I can't cry. I refuse to cry anymore. He's gone and there's no point in shedding any more tears. Besides, Sage wouldn't have liked that. If he knew I was crying for him, he'd be mad. He'd tell me not to cry over him. I could almost hear his voice. "For crying out loud, Rowen, stop your blubbering! Get on with your life and move on!"

_Papers in the roadside tell of suffering and greed  
Here today, forgot tomorrow_

I just can't forget about Sage, though. He changed me. He was a part of me. We were all a part of each other. Ryo, Sage, Cye, and Kento are all a part of me, and I'm a part of all of them. But now that it's just me and Ryo, we're incomplete. I don't feel whole anymore. I feel like a fragment of a person and I know I'm suffering inside. I feel like I'm dying on the inside.

Ooh, here besides the news of holy war and holy need  
Ours is just a little sorrowed talk  
(Just blown away...)  
And I don't...

And yet. . . sometimes it feels like you're still here. Sometimes I get this funny feeling inside me and I can feel you. I can even feel Cye and Kento. And sometimes that little feeling is all that I live for. Just the thought that maybe you weren't killed- just taken away, and you three are still alive somewhere. Holding onto each other for support. Keeping together. Waiting for me and Ryo to find you, or fighting your way back to us.

But time is our greatest enemy. The longer you are away. . . the less likely it is you'll be coming back. Any of you. No matter how strong you three are, or were, something was strong enough to rip you away from me and Ryo, and even Mia and Yuli. But if you are alive, please, keep holding on.

_But I won't cry for yesterday, there's an ordinary world,  
Somehow I have to find  
And as I try to make my way, to the ordinary world...  
I will learn to survive_

No matter where you are, I'm going to find out what happened!

_Every world, is my world... (I will learn to survive)  
Any world, is my world ... (I will learn to survive)  
Any world, is my world...  
Every world is my world..._


	3. Prologue, Part Two

Dragonia

By Dixxy

Prologue Two: Prayer for the Dying

(Ryo)

I've failed you in the worst way ever.

Fearless people, careless needle

Harsh words spoken, and lives are broken

I don't know why I did everything I did. Hey, it isn't my fault I was handed the Armor of the Wildfire- though there really IS no "leader" armor, Mia told me that, historically, Wildfires tend to lead the pack whenever the Ronins go into battle against the Dynasty. And it _was_ me who ran around Japan trying to find the rest of us. It's me who bears the Inferno. And maybe because of all that I got a little too. . . full of myself. I thought I could do it all.

Forceful aging,

Help me I'm fading,

Heaven's waiting

It's time to move on...

I misjudged you a little, though I never outright said it. Just because you were smaller than the rest of us- not by a great margin, granted, but still thinner and shorter- I guess that I felt more like you were another Yuli to us at first. You couldn't have been as old as the rest of us, yet you weren't too much younger than Sage or Kento, were you Cye? You weren't. You were our youngest, but you weren't weak.

When I first saw the rest of the Ronins, I couldn't help but evaluate you all. Rowen saved my life against that first Tin Can- you know, the one Mia used to tease us about after we could all easily take down ten at a time with one hand tied behind our backs? He was also older than me and smarter than me- maybe I felt a little, well, inferior around him. But of course the Rowen we know and love isn't like that at all. When he saved my life I guess I got this idea that Rowen was someone I could depend on.

Provided that Mia, Yuli and I could find him that rainy night, anyways. . .

And then there was Kento. Despite his jolly, youthful features, Kento knew how to fight and throw a punch. He was unquestionably the strongest of the five of us- some of the stuff he was hit with I don't I would've been able to take. For that, Kento has my eternal respect.

Sage I saw a bold, daring, and witty ally. He showed off that first time by jumping off that skyscraper headfirst, and still managing to make a perfect landing. And after fighting alongside him, I saw that he was a well-rounded swordsman who was probably better with that no-datchi of his than I was with my katanas.

Crossing that bridge with lessons I've learned

Playing with fire and not getting burned

But you, Cye, you were different. Though you could scramble pretty quickly to get to where you needed to be, it was obvious that you weren't too much of an experienced fighter. You barely knew how to hold your yari at first and you made some clumsy attempts at punches and kicks. I saw Kento smack his forehead a few times, though I didn't realize why until later. Poor Kento- he tried so hard to teach you how to fight. Your Japanese was also a little shaky, and you didn't talk too much at first. And your face. . . you looked so young and carefree. I thought you were thirteen or fourteen when I first saw you.

I was frightened.

I may not know what you're going through,

But time is the space between me and you

Life carries on, it goes on...

Why was I frightened? Because I thought you were so young and innocent and naïve. I couldn't believe someone like you had been given an armor. You couldn't possibly be a warrior- you had the carefree look of someone who came from a sheltered home life, went to Church every Sunday, and promised your parents you wouldn't touch a woman until you were married. You looked so. . . innocent.

I silently took on the role of your protector.

Crossing that bridge with lessons I've learned

Playing with fire and not getting burned

When you were trapped in the Sea of Toyama, I immediately volunteered to go after you, even when I KNEW my armor was weak in water. It's not that I didn't trust Sage, whose Armor of Halo would have probably taken no prisoners in that watery environment, but I wanted to make sure you were okay myself. Even after the effects of Sehkment's poison started to take affect I still pushed on because I was afraid he was going to kill you.

Words cannot express how amazed I was when the two of us beat Sehkment.

Suddenly your yari wasn't some foreign toy placed in your hands- you knew exactly how to use it to not only pull off the Super Wave Smasher, but to also hold your own against Sehkment in a clash of weapons. Yuli told me about the part of the fight I was unconscious for, and he seemed amazed, too. Still, I think Yuli was always under the mentality that we were all invincible super heroes.

But after the fight, as we were gazing out onto the oceans, I suddenly felt like I had failed you. Later on even Anubis pointed it out to me. At the beginning of the battle, there was a certain glimmer in your eyes. It was innocence. Naiveté. The eyes of a young boy without much of a care in the world.

Those eyes changed after that. As you looked out onto the ocean, I could almost see that inner light flicker out into nothing. I was stunned speechless. Your innocence was gone, almost like you'd been metaphorically raped. Though nothing of that nature actually happened, that's how it looked and felt at the time.

I felt like it was my fault that I couldn't protect you.

I may not know what you're going through,

But time is the space between me and you

Life carries on, it goes on...

I cried when we stopped for the night. I secluded myself from White Blaze, Yuli, and you. Yet even after the other two fell asleep, you still found me crying. You were pretty confused and asked me what was wrong, and I told you what I saw. Poor Cye. You didn't get it right away (probably because your Japanese was still a little shaky and I was blubbering like a whale), but you did give me a friendly hug- you understood that much.

After a while, even though I still felt responsible for your well-being, I came to see you as more of an equal rather than someone to worry about protecting. Especially after we kicked our own asses courtesy of Dais and his illusions. We were all getting closer, and we were all trusting each other more (though I don't think that Sage and Kento could ever come to an agreement on their choice methods of battle tactics).

Just say die, and that would be pessimistic

In your mind we can walk across water

Please don't cry: it's just a prayer for the dying

I just don't know what's got into me

When you all "died", I felt crushed. I felt like such an idiot to have let Talpa get away with absorbing you all. Even after he absorbed me I felt like I'd failed you, even if we all COULD be together again. But we all know what came next- we kicked Talpa's ass with the Inferno and lived to tell about it.

The worst failure by FAR, however, was when Talpa captured you, Sage, and Kento. I nearly lost it while I watched the three of you twisting and screaming in pain. God, what I would have given to stop that. I was so afraid. I thought you were all going to die- for REAL this time, and with no coming back like the first battle with Talpa. Even with Anubis' help and my façade around Rowen, Mia, and Yuli, I still wanted to die inside.

Been crossing that bridge with lessons I've learned

Playing with fire and not getting burned

I may not know what you're going through

But time is the space between me and you

But you all came out okay. Horribly shaken by the experience once the last battle was fought, but you were all alive. You were able to heal. You could start to move on with the rest of your lives so you could finish school, go to college, start careers, get married and have families, and grow old. You had the chance to live again.

Then that accursed camping trip . . . Now it was finally over for the three of you. None of those things would EVER happen now- your lives were cut tragically short. And you all had so many plans for later in life! I remember Sage talking excitedly about taking a year off after high school to travel though the Americas and Europe. Kento boldly bragged about how he was going to take over his family's restaurant and make it into a huge success. Cye, you looked at them both, laughed, and said you would be just happy making it through high school.

"_I don't know exactly what I want to do yet- I can cook, but I refuse to harm sea life so I wouldn't be able to get a job in a lot of restaurants, 'less I opened my own. And marine biology seems like the right ticket, but I don't know if the long trips away from home would sit well with any family I may have someday. And there's no telling how long I'll be able to keep up with swimming! Armor or no armor, my age is bound to catch up to me one of these days._"

There is a laughter that we know

Hold on, say yes, while people say no

Life carries on, it goes on...

But now none of those ideas can be explored. A part of me died with the three of you, because we had all wanted to grow up together. We wanted to go to our proms together and try to see if we couldn't get our colleges close together- maybe we would all say "to hell with it" and go with Sage during his year of travels. We would stay in touch throughout our entire lives- if and when we got married, we devised a flow-chart for "best man" set ups so everyone got that honor only once (I was going to be Rowen's best man and, ironically enough Cye, you were set to be mine). If we ever had kids we'd set up play dates in hopes that they would be able to become friends like the rest of us. We'd stay close together and watch as our lives went on. Maybe we'd all get drunk on the eve of Kento's wedding. We'd tease Rowen when he had to change his first diaper, and tell Sage to stop freaking out when his daughter went out on her first date. We'd of course have to give our full emotional support to you, Cye when your youngest went off to college and you became the parent of an empty nest. God knows what they'd have to do to me when my kids told me I was going to be a grandfather!

I'm crossing that bridge with lessons I've learned

I'm playing with fire and not getting burned

I may not know what you're going through

But time is the space between me and you

There is a laughter that we know

Hold on, say yes, while people say no

Life carries on, it goes on..

But those dreams have been shattered like mirrors in an earthquake. It's just me and Rowen now, after all. Mia and Yuli, too, but we lost so much that awful night. Your screams of terror still haunt me in my dreams. My dreams still take me back to those woods, back to that night. I can still feel every stone and stick underfoot and all the branches that reached out at my legs, arms, and face. I can remember the sounds of the wildlife as they scattered away from the scene of the tragedy.

Rowen and I both woke up when your screams sounded. It was horrible. Rowen called into your tent to try and find the three of you, and when he found nothing the two of us just ran and ran. By the time we reached the scene, our bodies lined with cuts and bruises. We didn't take any path- we ran straight through wild forest. The path would've taken too long- we had to get to you fast.

But we weren't fast enough. . .

It goes on, when nothing else matters

When nothing else matters, I just don't know what's got into me

I couldn't save you, Cye. I failed you. I tried so hard to protect you, but I just couldn't do it. A part of you became a casualty of our war with Trulpa, and I can't forgive myself for that. I feel like you lost your innocence because of me. Your youth. Your naïveté.

And ultimately. . . your life.

I'm so sorry. . .

_It's just a prayer for the dying_

_For the dying_


	4. Prologue, Part Three

Dragonia

By Dixxy

Prologue Three: Un-Break My Heart

(Mia)

I want you back so badly. . .

Don't leave me in all this pain  
Don't leave me out in the rain  
Come back and bring back my smile  
Come and take these tears away

While Ryo, Yuli and I went out to try and find Rowen, I couldn't help but think about him. Odd, I know. I know it must sound silly, mourning over a man I hardly knew over a year after his death, and at such a peculiar time, but as I drove down the wet streets of Toyama, I instinctively touched the sweater.

Oh, that sweater doesn't seem like much at first glance. It's just a pink cardigan. It wasn't even a gift or anything- I'd bought it on impulse at a discount store. But it was warm and well loved. I wore it often. But that sweater has come to mean something much more significant than just an impulse buy.

That was the sweater I wore when I first kissed Anubis.

_I need your arms to hold me now  
The nights are so unkind  
Bring back those nights when I held you beside me_

It's true, my first encounters with Anubis were far from pleasant. I was the voice of reason amongst some clueless, testosterone driven teenage boys and he was working for the megalomaniac trying to kill them. We were on opposing sides in a war that I was having trouble believing. I was a good girl, and he was a bad boy. By all means it should have never worked out. Anubis used me and Yuli as hostages to taunt at Ryo and the others, but yet, I could never bring myself to truly hate him.

The day that the Ancient spoke to Anubis, Yuli and I watched. I was unsure of what to think- a Dark Warlord was a human? What did this all mean? But as the Ancient One spoke, everything went into perspective. And suddenly Anubis wasn't so bad anymore. He'd been mislead and used like a puppet under Talpa's control. After all, he was only a man.

Naturally it was after he became the Ancient One's successor that things began to truly change. Once Ryo and Rowen had gone after the other three, Anubis stayed with Yuli and me. He played with Yuli when I needed to be left alone, but he was there to talk with me and listen if I needed to express myself. This wasn't my war- I wasn't meant to fight it, and I think I would be lying to say it wasn't affecting me.

_Un-break my heart  
Say you'll love me again  
Undo this hurt you caused  
When you walked out the door  
And walked outta my life  
Un-cry these tears  
I cried so many nights  
Un-break my heart  
My heart_

A day later, I began to find myself attracted to him. Anubis was not an ugly man- far from it! His long, silken hair and strong facial features did something to me that no one had ever done and no one has done since then. I liked him, but I brushed it off as a school girl crush. Something I hadn't had for who knows how many years.

After all, I was in an emotional rut! I was in the middle of an inter-dimensional war that would decide the fate of man kind. It isn't easy to assume a person will be level headed in all areas on intellect. It was hard enough keeping my head when it came to sorting through my grandfather's computer files and offering advice to the Ronin Warriors and keeping care of Yuli.

But then, that very same evening, after Yuli went to bed, things were different. We were talking again, but I had allowed myself to get more comfortable with him. I leaned in close, resting my head on his shoulder. He rubbed my shoulder, commenting on the texture of the sweater. That same sweater I wore as I drove around trying to Rowen.

And he kissed me.

_Take back that sad word good-bye  
Bring back the joy to my life  
Don't leave me here with these tears  
Come and kiss this pain away  
I can't forget the day you left  
Time is so unkind  
And life is so cruel without you here beside me_

I think we both must've somehow sensed our time together was short, but we still spent a good amount of time trying to find ways to help Ryo and Rowen. Anubis mediated and searched through some of the Ancient One's old scrolls. I searched through every file of my grandfather's that I could access. We both took turns taking care of Yuli, who I guessed helped in his own way by keeping our sanity. Something about his youth and optimism helped us through that.

It was two evenings before we found the clue pertaining to the Jewel of Life that things began to fall together. Yuli had long since gone to bed, leaving Anubis and I to our own devices. We talked about different things. I told him about my own history and the tragedies involved with it. And he listened to my every word.

I had been born to a single, unwed mother of sixteen. She had no parents, and my father committed suicide before I was born. It was his father that had taken my mother and me in- my grandfather. For the first few years of my life I was happy. My mother loved me despite the struggles she went through and my grandfather thought I was the most precious gift he'd ever received. To me, I didn't need anything but my mother and my grandfather. They were all I had and all I wanted. They were the only family I ever had.

But they were both snatched away from me.

When I was four, my mother mysteriously vanished. She went out to buy groceries for the three of us. I remember the day well- she'd told me that she was going to bring home the ingredients for banana cream pie, a favorite treat of mine and my grandfather's. She kissed us both good-bye and walked out the front door.

We never saw her again.

For weeks we tried to find her. I was devastated. I didn't want my mother to go away! I wanted her to stay with me! She was, aside from my grandfather, the most important person in my entire life. Without her my world shattered. Thankfully Grandfather didn't leave me for several more years.

Grandfather was both mother and father to me. He'd taught himself to sew in order to repair holes I'd acquired from playing or hemming pants and shirts too big for me. He taught me how to cook, putting up with a very eager but not very adapt learner. He was there for all of my graduations and recitals as a child, even if he was sick or tired. Grandfather was special to me.

Once I was finished, Anubis told me his story. He had two older brothers and his parents. He seemed to care the most for his mother, who imbedded enough honor and dignity into his head that he swore up and down she was the reason he wasn't a complete monster. He missed her the most out of all of them.

When his family was killed, he joined the army in attempts to avenge them. But soon he became more concerned with power and money, making him an easy target for Talpa's mind games. But even after hundreds of years living under Talpa's control, his mother's memory remained at the back of his mind. His mother, even hundreds of years after her death, had saved his life.

We cried in each others arms after that.

The next day we spent researching and searching for clues. Yuli did his part by making all of the meals that day- sandwiches and cereal. Not the fanciest meals, but it helped. I'm so proud of him for doing that. Anubis seemed impressed, too. I don't know what was going through his mind, but he suddenly took it apon himself to take care of the entire house that day. Poor kid was out cold bye eight.

Admittedly, we were tired too, but it wasn't the exhaustion Yuli had placed apon himself. We just couldn't do anymore research. Sure, Ryo and Rowen were fighting a difficult battle, but there was only so much we could do fighting our own battle against the massive amount of books and documents my grandfather had collected over the years. We both collapsed onto the couch, finding ourselves in a very comfortable position.

And things. . . went. . . from there.

I still can't believe I did that, nor do I understand why. That _we_ did that. I grew up never believing I would do something so impulsive or immature. I wasn't married to him or anything- I just followed my desire. I'd always thought it was bad and immoral and wrong. . . I never thought it would feel so right. It wasn't dirty and animalistic like I'd been told- it was passionate and tender. He loved me. Anubis really, truly loved me.

Maybe that was why it happened. We both felt a lack of love in our lives after loosing those dear to us. We were seeking solace in each other. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him, and he wanted to spend the rest of his with me. We were tired of being alone and we wanted something to fill that gap. We wanted and needed love. It was the only solution.

_Un-break my heart  
Say you'll love me again  
Undo this hurt you caused  
When you walked out the door  
And walked outta my life_

But things wouldn't stay that way. After the war, I thought that he could stay in the Mortal Realm with me and the Ronin Warriors. We would get married, maybe, and what we had done would seem less bad. Anubis told me he finally had something GOOD to live for. Someone that made him feel like everything would turn out okay.

Destiny had other ideas. Days later, Anubis was ripped out of my life forever.

_Un-cry these tears  
I cried so many nights  
Un-break my heart  
My heart_

I remember falling to my knees and crying my eyes out when I watched his lifeless body fall face first into the water. I screamed and cried. It felt like a part of my heart had been stolen away. I had just found someone I loved! Someone who loved me! Someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with!

I hid away from Yuli and Lady Kayura. I didn't want them to see me cry. I wanted to be strong. I had to be strong. We were facing a terrible evil, and the last thing any of us needed was a crybaby. Thankfully I had calmed down enough by the time Lady Kayura found me, still a little dazed and confused as to what happened. She brought me to my feet and walked me back onto that bridge.

That damned bridge.

_Don't leave me in all this pain  
Don't leave me out in the rain  
Bring back the nights when I held you beside me_

As I stood there, I was able to put up a defensive shield as I mindlessly told Kayura what had happened and what was going on. In reality, the real me was cowering in the corner of my mind, running back to the memory of Anubis holding me tightly in his arms and whispering sweet words into my ear.

_"I love you, Mia."_

And I believed him.

_"I love you, too, Anubis. I want you to stay with me forever."_

_"I want to stay with you forever, too."_

But no matter what it was that we wanted, it wasn't allowed. Anubis had been chosen to die, possibly even before the Ancient died. Chosen to give up his life so that Lady Kayura could be freed from Badamon's control. And I think that after a while he realized that. Before he went to go after the Ronins, who'd been captured by those barges, he pulled me close, kissed my forehead, and gave me a forlorn look.

_"Never forget **us**, Mia. I love you. I will love you for the rest of my life. No other woman will ever take your place in my heart as long as there is life in this body. No one. You're the only woman I want. You do things to me that I don't understand, but I don't care anymore. I love you, Mia."_

Those were the last words he ever said to me.

Un-break my heart  
Say you'll love me again  
Undo this hurt you caused  
When you walked out the door  
And walked outta my life  
Un-cry these tears  
I cried so many, many nights  
Un-break my

I spent the days following the war crying my eyes again. Even though I had cried when he died, it didn't really hit me until later. The only-man I had ever truly loved was suddenly gone. Snatched away from me by God damned destiny! All I want is love, damn it! So why won't anyone let me have it!

WHY, DAMN IT, WHY?

_Un-break my heart  
Come back and say you love me  
Un-break my heart  
Sweet darlin'  
Without you I just can't go on  
Can't go on_


	5. Prologue, Part Four

Dragonia

By Dixxy

Prologue Four: I'm With You

(Yuli)

I don't believe you're really dead!

_I'm standing on the bridge_

_I'm waiting in the dark_

_I thought that you'd be here by now_

Mia, Ryo and I were all pretty relieved when we found Rowen waiting for us at home. Naturally, Mia made a fuss over him while the Warrior of Air insisted he was fine. Ryo had Rowen in a hug (read: death grip) as he expressed his worry, which was when Rowen decided to give up. That, or he ran out of air to breathe.

I told him I'd been worried, but I knew he'd come out okay.

"Thanks Yuli," he said after Mia and Ryo left. He ruffled my hair and I left. "Glad to see you still have some faith In your old pal, Rowen." He winked at me, clicking his tongue as he snapped his fingers at me. "After all, even a tough guy like me should have someone who believes in him."

I nodded, and Rowen stood up, stretched, and left the living room. I watched him go, reaching for the end table next to the couch I was sitting on. My fingers found what I wanted and I dropped the object into my lap, looking at it. "Rowen. . . I have faith that all of you are okay."

But the smiling picture did nothing to bring them back.

_There's nothing but the rain_

_No footsteps on the ground_

_I'm listening, but there's no sound_

Mia had gotten a beautiful white frame for the picture- Ryo had taken it the last day of the camping trip that spirited Sage, Cye, and Kento away. It was such a nice picture of the guys. Ryo the epicenter of the picture, holding the device that controlled the camera. He was waving, a carefree smile on his face. Sage and Rowen had they arms around each other's shoulders, the latter flashing a peace sign over the shoulder of the former. Sage was looking slightly towards his best friend, a light-heartened grin on his face. Kento and Cye were both sitting on the ground, partially back-to-back. Cye was shyly smiling at the picture with his legs drawn up to his chest and his arms wrapped loosely around his knees.

Kento has crossed his legs and arms, his face plastered in a dopey grin as he tried to look cool. He looked so happy and at peace that moment, like all of his problems were worlds and world away. My heart sunk as I realized the whole trip had been because of one of his problems, and now. . .

Isn't anyone trying to find me?

Won't somebody come take me home?

All of the Ronins and Mia had made a fuss over me, Little Orphan Yuli, at the end of the first war. At the time we were all hopeful I'd find my parents, but as time rolled on it became a distant dream. Even after they liberated the city after the first war, I couldn't find them. They weren't home, the car hadn't moved from where my father parked it, and they weren't anywhere that they went on a normal basis.

I was alone.

_It's a damn cold night_

_Trying figure out this life_

_Won't you, take me by the hand_

_Take me somewhere new_

_I don't know who you are but I_

_I'm with you_

_I'm with you_

There was a week right after the first war during which nothing happened. Ryo was sleeping off the Inferno and still doesn't recall too much of it. The other Ronins, meanwhile, had agreed to stay with Mia for a while and spent time making arrangements with their parents to do this )Sage was the sole exception- he wrote them a very BRIEF letter and sent it in the mail). They were all bonding, and none of them wanted to go their separate ways. Everyone lived so far away from each other it seemed, and the armors were too strong of a force to ignore.

Mia, meanwhile, seemed very happy to have six brand new roommates. . . seven if you count White Blaze. She let us choose our own rooms. I selected a very small room because I didn't really want to stay. They represented a difficult time for me, and the memories hurt. Besides, I had a home to return to, right?

_I'm looking for a place_

_I'm searching for a face_

_Is anybody here I know_

After all, I really didn't KNOW any of them. Rowen and Sage would share inside jokes and go into town together. Cye and Kento were rarely seen apart, and the way they spoke to each other reminded me of the way two brothers might speak with each other. I felt like an outsider around those four, but the other creatures in the house were a world away at times. Mia had a lot of things to take care of around the house and was generally left alone. Ryo was still recovering from the Inferno. White Blaze was a near constant companion of mine, but he couldn't talk to me, really, and it was sometimes hard for us to communicate.

So who did I really have?

_Cos' nothing's going right_

_And everything's a mess_

_And no-one like's to be alone_

_Isn't anyone trying to find me?_

_Won't somebody take me home_

About two days before the battle with Sarenbo began, a horrible storm was brewing outside. Thunder, lighting, rain, wind. . . you'd thing that Cye, Rowen, and Sage had just gotten into a huge argument with each other, Kento had joked. I had only smiled weakly at the joke before I retreated back to my room. I just felt uncomfortable.

Okay, I know I liked the Ronins a LOT. They had been really nice to me, but I still felt like an outsider. They were teenagers, after all- moreover, teenagers who were now veterans of a fairly violent war against a demon army. What would they want with a little kid like me? They all did teenage things that I didn't really understand. Sure I tried to involve myself with them, but no matter what I always felt like I was being treated like a child.

_It's a damn cold night_

_Trying to figure out this life_

_Won't you, take me by the hand_

_Take me somewhere new_

_I don't know who you are but I_

_I'm with you_

_I'm with you_

"_Yuli, is everything all right?_"

That was Kento. He'd followed me to my room. By that time I was sitting against the headboard of my bed, curled up and feeling sorry for myself. I looked up at him, unable to give him an answer. How the heck was I supposed to talk to him? Kento raised an eyebrow, stepped inside, and closed the door behind him.

"_Okay Yuli, what's going on?_" Kento sat down on the edge of my bed, looking at me with a look of sincere concern. This surprised me- that was perhaps the most sincere thing I'd seen from any of them. "_You've barely said a peep since the war ended- did something about the battle bother you that you want to talk about?_"

I wasn't sure what to say. I looked down at the bed spread and ran my hand over it. "_I feel like I'm on the outside looking in. I know it sounds stupid but that's how I feel,_" I said. "_I just don't feel like I'm part of the group. Everyone else seems so close and comfortable with each other. . . I just feel like I'd be intruding._"

Kento laughed. "_Although you said what you said eloquently, I'll have to disagree with you there, kid. You're one of us. You were pretty brave back there, and you did some pretty crazy things in your attempt to get your folks back. That took a lot of guts- maybe even more than the five of us._"

_Oh, why is everything so confusing?_

_Maybe I'm just out of my mind_

_Yeah yeah yeah_

_Yeah yeah_

_Yeah yeah_

_Yeah yeah_

_Yeah_

"_More brave. . .?_"

"_Er herm. The five of us have magic armors. You do not. The five of us stood a much better chance at even surviving against Talpa- you and Mia, though more you, took some pretty crazy risks. You attacked both Cale AND Anubis- both of whom could have probably killed you. You're one bold shrimp,_" Kento said. He ruffled my hair and put his arm around my shoulder, jerking him closer. "_I don't know if we could have done it without you. So why do you feel like an outsider?_"

"_Because I'm a kid._"

"_And your point being?_"

"_I'm just nine years old!_"

"_I'm just fifteen years old._"

I stared at Kento in awe. "_FIFTEEN!_"

Kento raised an eyebrow. "_How old did you think I was?_"

I turned away. "_I thought you were all at least seventeen or something. . ._"

Kento scrunched his nose up. "_If I was a woman I'd be offended._"

I laughed. "_So you're still a kid, too._"

"_Second from the bottom- Cye's the baby of the group, if you must know. Rowen is our oldest, and he's sixteen,_" said Kento. He sighed. "_Sometimes, I wonder how this is going to affect the rest of my life._" He flopped backwards onto my bed. "_What happens after this? Are we still going to be able to graduate high school and go to college? Are we going to be allowed to settle down with wives and raise families? Can we get jobs and succeed in life somewhere? Or is this is?_"

"_I thought you liked to fight._"

"_Oh, I do like to fight, but after this? The adrenaline rush is like a drug, but. . . this isn't a video game. If I die. . . that's it. My parents and my siblings will be sad, and I don't want them to be sad. And I don't want them to be hurt because I failed to protect this world._" He closed his eyes. "_I enjoy the fight, but that's not WHY I fight. I fight to protect my family and this world. Not because I'm out to throw my fists around like Sage seems to think._"

Suddenly I was seeing Kento in a whole new light. A person I thought to be a shallow jock who liked to eat, fight, and sleep was now so much more. He had depth. He had a purpose. "_You fight because you have to fight to protect the people you love._" I laid down on my belly next to him. "_Deep down inside. . . you're afraid._"

"_I am._"

It's a damn cold night

Trying to figure out this life

Won't you, take me by the hand

Take me somewhere new

I don't know who you are but I

I'm with you

I'm with you

After that things changed. I started to accept myself as part of the group and I grew closer to each of the Ronins. Sage and Rowen became invaluable sources of knowledge and advice, as well as the occasional free ice cream. Cye was a person to run to for comfort and to talk because when he wasn't fighting, he was actually a very gentle, calm person. Ryo was like an older brother figure who protected me and made sure I was safe. Mia was almost like a second mother to me, something I needed.

Kento was different- he was my companion. I got closer to him than the others, really. Personally, I think it's because he's always been around younger children, but he's more patient with me- only Cye tops him there, but that's because Cye's such a pacifist. With White Blaze often tagging along, we were partners in crime. We got into all sorts of trouble with Mia, but we didn't care. I didn't care, at least. I don't think Kento did, either.

Take me by the hand

Take me somewhere new

I don't know who you are but I,

I'm with you I'm with you

Then they went camping, and Kento disappeared.

I took it hard. Somebody took Kento, Sage, and Cye away from me. Away from US. The house felt so empty and quiet like nothing was there. It was like the last time I went to my old house to get the last of my possessions to bring with me. It was like the house itself had died. It didn't feel the same after that, and Mia's house hasn't felt the same since, either.

All of us made up a home. We were a family, and now we're apart. But I refuse to give up on the idea that we're not going to be a family again. Mia, Ryo, and Rowen have all given up on them. They think that Kento, Sage, and Cye are dead. I refuse to believe that! They're out there, somewhere, and I know they miss us, too. I don't care how much time passes- I'm never going to give up hope.

Kento, I know you're out there. Please come back to me.

Take me by the hand

Take me somewhere new

I don't know who you are but I

I'm with you I'm with you I'm with you

  



	6. First Anniversary

Dragonia

By Dixxy

Chapter One: First Anniversary

(Rowen)

I remember the day everything turned upside-down for the umpteenth time in my life very clearly. Yes, that many times. My parents are divorced, I met Sage- my first REAL friend- we found out armors, and then Sage, Cye, and Kento vanished on me without a trace. Quite frankly I was used to my world being on a non-stop roller-coaster full of bumps, shakes, and loops. It's almost as if someone out there enjoys watching me suffer.

It was sometime in the vicinity of ten- we were all planning on going into town together. It was late August, and Mia wanted to make sure we all had new clothing for school. Mia had been very anxious to go on that day, saying "Sunday, Sunday, Sunday" over and over again it seemed. Though I didn't care either way (big whoop, a few more teachers were going to be amazed by my talents- I'm not trying to sound cocky, but after awhile it becomes rather annoying), Yuli and Ryo were less enthusiastic.

"I don't wanna go back to school," Yuli whined. The three of us men were sitting on the couch in the living room, Yuli half-sandwiched between Ryo and me. He was pouting with his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands, his cheeks puffed out from depression. Ryo had flopped backwards, staring at the ceiling with great interest. I sat patient, one ankle resting on the opposite knee and my arms folded loosely across my chest. Mia was finishing up the whole feminine "get ready" process, which made me guess we had a good ten minutes left until we had to go if she was quick. Though you'd think we'd be moving around we weren't- it was very hot outside and the air conditioner wasn't quite cutting it.

"I wanna stay home and draw," Ryo said. That was Ryo's hobby, other than soccer and sword training- drawing. He'd been easily lost to the world of manga and anime ever since he was a child, and he'd recently decided to draw his own. And he was GOOD, too. I may be a genius, but I can't draw actual objects very well. Diagrams and the like are fine- those involve lots of rulers- but if it's anything else I'm screwed. Even my stick figures suck.

So naturally Ryo appreciates me doodling my self portrait every time he questions his artistic ability. Not only does it grant us both a cheap laugh at my disposal, but it lightens his spirit and he usually comes up with some sort of a masterpiece that knocks the socks off of everyone else in the household. And all because I can't draw if my life depended on it.

"Come on, you two. Mia's buying us new clothes. We can get whatever we want and it won't cost us a cent- well, at least it won't cost Yuli. I dunno about me and Ryo," I said. I smirked. "We might get sentenced to hard labor or three weeks of solitarily confinement."

"What's solitary confinement?" Yuli asked.

"It's a prison term for when they keep prisoners by themselves," said Ryo. He shook his head and gave me a look that plainly stated "grow up you moron or else I'm going to maim you". "Usually for bad behavior or just REALLY bad criminals that might be a danger to other prisoners- stuff like that. Rowen's just kidding you, Yuli."

"I knew that, but I still didn't know what it meant!"

Chuckling, I wrapped my arm around Yuli's head to give myself a noogie opportunity. He squealed in terror, flailing his arms about in a mad attempt to get me off as he begged Ryo for help. By then, however, Ryo was too busy holding his gut as he rolled on the floor, laughing his head off. Naturally, the victim of my random attack was yelling at us both- me for giving him noogies, Ryo for being useless. White Blaze, who had been napping on a large blanket kept in the far corner of the room, was staring at us as if we were rare creatures in a zoo.

_Stupid humans, _is probably along the lines of what he was thinking.

"Men."

We stopped our rough-housing to see Mia was waiting for, apparently ready to go. Her purse in hand, hair combed, and a light touch of make-up on her face, and a tired look on her face. She had a slightly frazzled look on her face, like something was wrong. Still, she smiled when she saw us. "Gentlemen? Let's get going, shall we?" She spun on the toe of her shoe, tossed her head back, and began to strut to the door.

"Women," was my next comment.

"Rowen, do these jeans make me look fat?"

"No, Ryo, they're fine," I said. While Mia had gone off with Yuli, Ryo and I were left to our own devices. My friend and I were joking around as we tried on different shirts and jeans to see what fit and what didn't, and we made absurdly feminine comments in the process. The attendant for the fitting rooms seemed annoyed, but had chosen to stay quiet.

"He probably thinks we're gay or something," I muttered under my breath as I looked at a pair of khakis I was trying on. I shrugged, decided they fit, and walked back into my dressing room, where my own pants were waiting for me, as well as two pairs of jeans and a button-up shirt.

"Hey Rowen?"

"Yeah?" I was now half-way back into my own jeans.

"Are we. . . going back to. . . that spot?"

I stopped. I knew what spot he meant.

THE spot.

Suddenly Mia's odd behavior about the trip wasn't so odd anymore. No longer did I just see that day as "Sunday". I saw it as the number date, the kind of date that doesn't rely on what day of the week it is, but rather that of the month. Mia had probably chosen that specific day to take us school shopping with good reason. This wasn't going to be an easy day for us, and she probably figured that looking for clothing and notebooks would take our mind off of what that day meant to us. It wasn't about the end of summer or the start of school. It wasn't even as if the end of August held any real significance.

It was the anniversary of the tragedy at the camp grounds.

I buttoned the top to the fly of my jeans, my head spinning while I was lost in thought. "I don't know," I said. "I mean. . . could we find it again? Even if we wanted to?" I coughed. "After all. . . it's not like we're going to find anything new. Between us and the police and all the search parties. . ."

"Please. . . don't talk about that!"

"You're the one who brought it up!" I snapped back.

I saw Ryo's sneakers at the bottom of the door. "I. . . I don't know, Rowen," he said. A soft thud let me know he was leaning up against the door. "It hurts for me, too, but I feel like it's sacred ground or something. As much as I know it's going to hurt. . . I don't think I can hold back."

"Exactly one year ago right now, the five of us were probably just getting up to eat breakfast and go on a hike," I said. "Cye was probably trying to ward Kento away from the campfire while you and Sage poured that ice water on me and my sleeping bag to get me to wake up. We probably had the last of the granola and hot tea, then had the jerky for lunch. We went swimming in the lake around five and ate candy for dinner around six. And then. . ." I sighed. "There's nothing we can do about it now, right?"

". . .right," said Ryo. I grabbed my purchases and stepped out of the room to see Ryo with a melancholy look on his face. "I just wish there was something we could've done. Something we didn't do or didn't do right or. . . you know, I think that right now hurts more than the days after it happened." Ryo's crystalline blue eyes were red with tears, now streaming down his face. I dropped the new clothing on the floor and grabbed him, letting him cry into my shoulder. "Oh Rowen, why'd they have to die?"

"We don't know that answer," I said. I held him tighter. "But I wish we did."

"Queers."

I gave the attendant a nasty look and flipped him the bird. "Fuck you," I said. "We're not 'queers' and he's upset because some good friends of ours died tragically one year ago TODAY." I almost roughly tossed Ryo aside, fuming with anger. I grasped the edge of his desk and leaned forward so our foreheads were pressed together. The man seemed startled by my sudden aggression, and I glared harder. "Don't open your damn mouth unless you know what you're talking about, jackass." I shoved the desk a little, causing some papers and tags to scatter. I grabbed Ryo's shoulder and escorted the two of us out of the area.

"Rowen. . . that wasn't very nice."

"No kidding," I said. "But I don't care. He has no idea."

Ryo sighed. "I hope he never does."

I looked at Ryo in shock. "How can you say that?"  
"Even if he was kinda rotten to us, think about it," said Ryo. He looked back at the fitting rooms with a forlorn look in his eyes. "He probably has a family and his own friends. Maybe a wife and kids, and judging by his age maybe even some small grandchildren. How would he feel if they were all put in danger and only a few of them came out of it? He had to watch them suffer and get hurt like that, and wonder if even he'd see the sunrise again. Does anyone really deserve that?"

_Then why did we deserve that?_

For a summer night, it was pretty chilly. Mia blamed it on the fact we were hiking through damp woods while Ryo said it was just a fluke in the weather. Yuli, who was usually full of energy, was suddenly quiet and withdrawn as he and White Blaze went through the woods, the boy riding on the back of the great white cat. I was holding a battery powered lantern as I tried to remember the route.

"This is where we were camping," I said as emerged from some overgrowth in the forest. Sure enough, the small clearing that we'd spent our last week with the guys was laid out in front of us. The old log, boulder, and tree stump we'd used as chairs were still sitting around the long cold campfire. The trees we'd hung our clothes on to dry were still standing, tall and strong as ever. In the distance, I could see the lake that we'd all gone skinny dipping in just through the branches and leaves. It was almost like nothing had changed from the day we'd arrived.

"I'm surprised the camp site wasn't ransacked," said Mia, sitting down on the log. She picked up a stick and poked at the fire site, moving some pieces of bark and small chunks of rock around. "Considering they were dealing with a missing persons case, you'd think they would've left no stone unturned, right?"

"They sure did," Ryo said. "But there isn't much in this area to begin with."

"He's right," I said. After another minute of silence, I stood up and we progressed further.

The path I'd run down a year early seemed as horrible as ever. Branches and twigs still lined the path, and even at my much slower pace, I should still feel a few scratches and smacks from the tree. But our little lantern shined on and showed us the way through. I swallowed and clenched at my mouth, very upset at what I knew was coming next.

This clearing looked peaceful now. It was full of crisp, green grass, bright flowers, and lush trees. With the moon and stars shining high above our heads, the quiet we felt was almost comforting, as if inviting us to lie down and sleep. The soft chatter of night animals in the background was almost soothing, not at all creepy like one would think. It seemed like a perfect place.

If it weren't for the three memorials in the center of it.

Ryo and I had put off coming back thanks to the painful memories the three crosses meant. Someone from a local church had donated them to us after the disappearance so we could use them as such. They had been painted white with the sole exception of their names, which were painted in beautiful gold kanjis. A few members of the search party, amongst others, had left all sorts of beautiful things. Three smiling faces had been tacked on by the photographer that had taken their last school pictures and a rosary had been draped around each cross. A florist Mia had known since she was small had laid down the seeds for wildflowers all around in an attempt to make it seem more cheery and friendly.

Well, the flowers had survived, but not much else was in as good condition. The paint on the crosses had become cracked and faded from the elements, some worse that others. Sage's picture was torn in half, Cye's was badly stained, and Kento's was gone all together. The rosary around Cye's cross had broken and most of the beads were scattered along the ground, though I was sure a curious animal or two had taken off with one or more each.

Yuli, who had yet to visit the site even after a full year, got off White Blaze and slowly approached the makeshift memorials. He feel to his knees in front of Sage's cross, looking at the torn picture in silence. Carefully, slowly, and timidly, Yuli took the remainder of the photograph off the marker and stared at it. Before long, he was in crying hysterics.

Mia was quick to get to his side, hugging and soothing the young boy who had been so badly hurt. White Blaze also nuzzled Yuli, once again treating the boy like his own cub. Ryo and I exchanged a hug, too, each of us reflecting on what we had lost. What we had failed to protect and save.

"LUCK-Y! HELP!"

"What the hell was that!" I asked as soon as I heard the voice.

"MELODY!"

"Someone's in trouble!" I said. Remembering the terror from one year earlier, I ran at breakneck speed to the source of the voice. Mia screamed after me while Ryo didn't seem to be able to move, too shocked to speak. I didn't know who Lucky or Melody were, but I knew one thing was for sure.

I am the fastest of the Ronin Warriors.

Yet last year, I wasn't fast enough to save my friends.

This time, I wouldn't be too late.


	7. Lucky and Melody’s Introduction

Dragonia

By Dixxy

Chapter Two: Lucky and Melody's Introduction

(Ryo)

Once I got over the shock of hearing the cries of help and Rowen sprint off after them, I got a hold of my own senses and took off after him. "Stay back there!" I yelled. Mia and Yuli didn't say anything, but I still talked. "Rowen and I will handle this! It's too dangerous for you two to come along!"

"Ryo!" Yuli called.

"STAY BACK!" I yelled, then I continued my trek through the woods, dodging what branches, spider webs, and other unpleasant things I could as I tried to catch up to Rowen. The adrenaline rush was starting to kick in – I was frightened out of my mind and running faster than I ever had before. And then I could feel the power of Wildfire reaching out to me, too. I got scared – if my armor was reacting, there could be trouble. What if Rowen was being tricked by whatever it was that got to the others? What if I lost him, too?

Although Rowen and I butt heads a lot, the two of us bonded that first year without the guys. A lot. Rowen had lost his best friend – Sage – and I was I just getting used to the idea of having friends, only to have most of them taken away from me. We found solace and comfort in each other and we tried to deal with it. We clung to each other and spent every possible moment we could together – that's why Rowen reacted so strongly to the store clerk. Because of how close we are, well, a lot of people thought that we were more than friends, which isn't true.

Still. . . if I ever lost Rowen. . . I don't know what I'd do with myself.

I ran as fast as I could after him, praying to every god or goddess I had ever heard of that I could get to him in time, maybe even some I hadn't heard of, too. And I yelled for him. "ROW-EN!" I cried. "WAIT UP! WHAT IF IT'S A TRAP? YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME HERE BY MYSELF!"

Rowen stopped short, and I crashed into him from behind. Rowen cried out in disapproval as the two of us tumbled to the ground in a mess of kicking limbs, swears, and a few well-placed punches that would leave us sore and bruised for the next few days. By the time we'd managed to separate ourselves, I saw what had caused Rowen to stop short.

"Rowen. . . what the hell are those things?" I asked slowly.

"I don't know," he said simply.

There, sitting before us, were three creatures. One of them was a rabbit. Just a cute white bunny with a pink nose and big long ears and a fluffy, cotton tail. You know. A rabbit. Yet the bunny had evidently cornered two other creatures – both of which were terrified of the rodent before them – we had never seen before in our entire. They were backed against a large tree, caught between the trunk, two large roots, and the rabbit.

The creatures differed slightly in size and shape, though both had large ears, small, bat-like faces, large hind legs and smaller forearms, chubby tails, and furry wings. One creature was slightly larger and bright blue in color – the other was a soft pink. The pink one was clutching to the blue one for dear life as the blue one tried to protect its friend.

Cautiously, Rowen stepped forward. The bunny sensed him and scampered off, leaving the other two things trembling. "Um. . . it's okay," said Rowen. He got closer, then knelt down before the creatures. He held out his hand, and the blue one looked at it skeptically. "I'm not gonna hurt you. Just stay calm, okay, little fella?"

"I'm not an idiot, you know."

Now it was Rowen's turn to scream. "YOU CAN TALK?"

The blue creature placed its tiny arms on its hips and nodded, looking insulted. "Of course I can talk! Everybody knows that dragons can talk just as well as any human can! We were born that way! We can talk as soon as we're born and right up to our dying breathe! What do you MEAN 'you can talk'? Are ALL the humans in this world stupid as you!"

"Lucky. . . dear. . . this isn't our world, _remember_?" said his pink companion. "Maybe they don't _have_ dragons here. Or if they do, the dragons can't talk. So relax and just let the nice human help us. All right?" She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Now try to calm down, Lucky – we just need to find your mother and her Matron, then we'll be all set."

By now, I had decided to join Rowen in his awed stupor. "Matron? Dragon?" I asked, slowly raising my hand. "Um, could you fill us in on exactly what it is you're telling us? Pinky here is right – we don't have things like you here. Um, dragons. So, ah, who are you and what are you doing here?"

"My name is Lucky," said the blue dragon. "This is my soon to be mate, Melody." Melody slapped Lucky's shoulder, and the other dragon fumed slightly. "What? It's true! Once we have my mother's blessing we can mate! You've been looking forward to this for a long time! It's what we've talked about for the past few months! We'll get a nice little nest in a quiet fore with a nice clearing for the hatchlings to play in and-"

"So you want to get married," said Rowen.

"No, we want to mate – dragon's don't get married, silly!" said Melody.

"RIGHT," I said. I turned to Rowen. "Is it too early to start drinking heavily?"

Rowen shook his head. "Not in my book."

"Good – do you know where Mia keeps the vodka?"  
"No idea."

". . . grand."

* * *

Out of curiosity and sympathy, we brought the dragons back to Mia's house – this was complicated by the two dragons freaking out apon seeing White Blaze (who, for his part, didn't help when he tried to eat them). But once we were home, we settled in the living room as the two dragons told us about their world and what they were doing in the Mortal Realm. The dragons took the coffee table, Ryo and I shared the loved seat, Mia sat in a chair, and White Blaze and Yuli shared the couch (much to Mia's chagrin, but she rarely argues with the cat).

"There are several different worlds in the universe – your world is one of them," said Lucky. The rest of us nodded – this was old news to us. "Dragonia is our world, and we traveled here from there in order to find my mother. My mother and her Dragon Matron – a kind of human that can be connected to a Dragon – have settled here."

"How come?" asked Yuli.

"She won't tell me – all I know is that she's on a mission for Melody's grandfather and his Dragon Lord, and that mission requires them to be here," said Lucky. "But, according to the Dragon Code, we need the permission of a parent or grandparent, if the parent or grandparent is alive, to mate – if you're an orphan the rule is waived but dragons don't die easily, so it's rare that happens. But since my mom is still alive we need to talk to her. It's sort of like marriage but it really isn't – there's no formal ceremony involved – just the permission and then you're mates for life."

"So you need your mom to give you her blessing," said Mia. She sighed, twirling her hair on one finger. "Do you know where she is? Well, aside from being in this world? This world is a big place and you could be left wandering for years without a starting point."

"Both of them travel, but they live in some place called Japan," said Melody.

"Well, this is Japan," I said, spreading my arms out in explanation. Melody and Lucky brightened, and I realized my error. "Well. . . the house itself isn't Japan, but we're IN Japan. It's a country in our world, and, in your favor, a fairly small one. There's a LOT of people here but it won't take long to find who you're looking for, I'm sure."

The pink one suddenly got skeptical. "Wait just a minute. Why are you being so helpful?" asked Melody. She cocked her head to the side and frowned. "I've heard people in this world don't like magic and burn things they think ARE magic unless it's a cheap parlor trick. So why did you accept us so easily?"

I laughed. "You're right. Most people in this world aren't comfortable with strange creatures and magic, but we are," I said sheepishly. "People don't like it because this world is based on sciences and technologies rather than spiritual things. There isn't a lot of magic in this world, or at least not a lot of places it can be found – it's pretty rare and few people ever even get to see anything magic, never mind experience it."

"But it does exist, right?" said Lucky.

Mia nodded. "Yes, it does – this world is protected from other realms by nine mystical armors – Ryo and Rowen were chosen to wear two of these armors," she said. With that, we took turns explaining the legend of the nine armors, Talpa, and how we had all gotten involved. Lucky and Melody listened intently, hanging on our every word. I found it a bit strange, but brushed it aside. This was new to them, but the concept must not have been too hard to grasp.

"So where are the other armor bearers?" asked Melody. "Are they here, too?"  
I felt my heart sink at the mention, and the room went quiet. Being the leader, I spoke up. "We don't know," I said. "A year ago today, the other three Ronin Warriors were taken away from us – we don't know what happened to them or even have so much as a clue. In fact, the only reason we were out there was to visit their memorial."

"Memorial?" asked Lucky. "What's that?"

"Like a grave site without a body," said Rowen. He stood up and slowly sauntered towards the window, looking out with sad eyes. "Granted we don't know for sure that they're dead, but everything points to an untimely death. I think we all like to think they're alive out there, but at this point it's an impossible dream."

Melody frowned. "I'm sorry I brought it up. I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay," said Mia. "It hurts to think about it, but it's better than forgetting them."

"They were all wonderful people," said Rowen. He sighed. "Sage and I were best friends from the time we were kids. It was a coincidence we were both Ronins, but we helped each other get through that and other things as well." He sat down. "So much happened to all of us. . . it's a wonder we made it through at all."

"If you got through so much together, then why do you think they're dead?" asked Lucky.

"We couldn't sense them," I said. "The armors have a strong bond, and we couldn't find them. It's kind of hard to explain, but. . . well, for example, I can sense Rowen's armor right now through my own. I know he's close by and all, but even when he's across the island visiting his dad I can sense him. He's hours away from me, but I can sense him when he's there."

"And since you couldn't sense them. . ." said Melody.

"What if they're just really, really far away from you?" said Lucky. He flew from the coffee table onto my lap and looked me straight in the eye. "Or in another realm? Or what if someone was able to interfere with that bond and did it just to make you THINK they died? Ryo, they could be out there somewhere waiting for you to rescue them."

"Can we PLEASE not talk about it?" I begged. "Even if they are in some other world, we have no way of getting to them or even figuring out where they are. There isn't anything we CAN do! But you didn't see what that clearing looked like when it happened! Everything around them was destroyed! The ground was burned, there were dead animals in the area and it looked like someone dropped a fireball on them! We DON'T like to talk about it!"

Lucky seemed hurt, but didn't say anything else about the guys.

* * *

A week went by, and slowly but surely, the two dragons were now a small, albeit temporary, part of our lives. Melody slept in Mia's laundry basket in her bedroom while Lucky slept on a bean-bag chair Rowen and I had acquired for our room a few months earlier. We figured out what foods they liked to eat, gave them saucers to eat off of, and they ate their meals with us. The only thing they didn't do was go out and about with us, as we weren't sure how people would react to them.

"I'm gonna miss them when we track down Lucky's mom and they go back to Dragonia," said Rowen. He and I had found some time to ourselves, floating aimlessly on a wooden raft out on the lake by Mia's house. Cye and Kento had built it about a week before the camping trip, planning on using it to try and have picnics out on the water. That had resulted in several very soggy sandwiches sinking to the bottom of the lake and two very disappointed Ronins. None the less, Rowen and I still used it. It was a good raft with sentimental value.

I turned my head to look at Rowen. We were lying belly up on the raft, enjoying the sun's rays as we drifted along with the slight breeze. He had his hands behind his head as he stared straight up into the sky. "Well, yeah, I'll miss them, too, but we aren't even close to figuring out who these people are yet."

"I know, but. . . I like Lucky," said Rowen. "I feel drawn to him. There's something about him that makes me want to have him not go away, if that makes any sense. And it's not any one thing, either – it's weird, Ryo. I've never felt that emotion before. Even with the other Ronins." He sighed. "I can't explain it, but. . . do you remember what Lucky was telling us the other night about Dragon Kin?"

"You mean how every dragon has a special connection to a human being?" I asked. Rowen nodded, and my eyes widened at the sudden realization. Dragon Kin, Kin for short, was a generic term for the people connected to dragons, such as Melody's grandfather's Lord and Rowen's mother's Matron. "Rowen, you don't actually think you might be Lucky's Dragon Kin, do you? I mean, you're from the Mortal Realm and Lucky said Dragon Kin are only born FROM Dragon Kin!"

"Neither of my parents talk about their families," said Rowen. "My dad says he was an only child and his parents are dead, and my mom says its because she was seventeen when she had me and her family doesn't talk to her, but one of them could be lying about it. If one of them IS a Dragon Kin, they wouldn't know I was a Ronin Warrior."

That was true. None of the families, except for Kento's family, Sage's grandfather, and Sage's little sister knew about the armors. My parents are dead, and Rowen's parents don't know anything about it. Therefore, if Rowen's inkling was right, they would have had no reason to tell him about anything.

Though, then again, we almost DID tell them – that's how those who know about the armors even know. We told them. After the guys vanished, we invited their families to Mia's house. Apon arriving, Mrs. Rei Fuang informed us that Cye's mother was close to death and couldn't make the meeting (nor did she ever know about it for that matter). After hearing about what happened to her son, her heart started to give out and she was living out of a hospital. His older sister was too distraught to leave his mother's side, but Kento's mother promised to pass the information onto them if she could.

A few months later, she told us that Mrs. Mouri had died on New Year's Eve.

What would have been Cye's sixteenth birthday.

I didn't think anyone would believe us – Satsuki (Sage's sister) and Sensei Date seemed to believe us, but the Rei Fuangs argued immediately. Rowen and I both armored up to prove we weren't making anything up about it, and then we could see it in their eyes – none of them doubted us. This was no stupid trick we were pulling to try and make them feel better or entertain ourselves. This was real. Summoning mystical armor of our seemingly no where was no parlor trick and they all knew it.

But what happened after this sunk in was a string of ramblings of stories they had about their sons and how they "should have known" or what not. They KNEW their sons were special, but until now, they didn't understand what it all meant. And now, things were coming to the surface.

Like's Sage's adoption – he'd been abandoned as a baby and taken in by the Dates. Rowen listened to the revelation with a stone face – Sage had told him about it already, but it was news to me, Mia, and Yuli. Evidently his parents were angry that he had found out and they had gotten into a huge fight over it the night he left to fight with us. But what sickened me was how his parents were planning on completely excommunicating Sage from the family altogether before he vanished – only his grandfather and little sister opposed to the decision and supported Sage during what was probably a confusing time for him. Rowen added in that this was probably why Sage was behaving the way he did – sure he was very formal and the like, but Satsuki agreed – that wasn't the way her brother normally behaved.

One of Kento's siblings started talking about Cye's mysterious birth. Apparently, not only did he not grow up with a father – something we all knew – but his biological father was a man his mother couldn't even recall herself. She'd been drunk the night Cye was conceived and, as a result, never knew who the father of her baby was. That was something Cye hadn't talked about around me or Rowen, but evidently something he had shared with the Rei Fuangs – probably because he'd known them for longer, but we couldn't be sure. None the less, that was why Cye's mother had gotten sick – she'd been older when she'd gotten pregnant, and because of her age the pregnancy was rough. Cye probably felt guilty about it, but it couldn't be helped – no one chooses to be born.

The story that confused me the most, however, was Mr. Rei Fuang's accounts of Kento's unusual childhood behavior. Sometimes, he told us, he son was able to tell them things they couldn't believe. He once recited the winning numbers for a jackpot lottery ticket five minutes before the numbers were even drawn, and another time he sensed that someone was going to break into the house a week before someone actually did try to break in. Then, one day, it suddenly stopped and Kento acted as if he'd never heard of such a thing. Mrs. Rei Fuang added that around that time a Christian preacher had been visiting and spent a day performing exorcisms on people who were supposedly possessed by the devil. Though, in a weird, way, Kento being exorcised explained why the visions stopped, it didn't explain why he didn't remember it.

Evidently, the question they were all inadvertently asking was if any of that had to do with their sons being Ronin Warriors? Unfortunately, Mia, Rowen, nor myself had a good answer. With the sole exception of Rowen knowing about Sage's adoption, none of them had ever talked about these secrets unless it was amongst themselves (which in the case of Cye and Kento was extremely likely). Mia hadn't found anything about it on her computer, and not once had the Ancient, Anubis, or even Kayura said anything about it.

Somehow, Rowen's strong feelings for the perky little dragon almost made sense.

"Rowen. . . I don't mean to bring up the past, but this seems weird."

"How is it bringing up the past?"

"The guys. . . there was something different about them, too. Cye's father's identity is a mystery, Sage's total heritage is unknown, and, well, as strange as it sounds Kento used to be psychic. Now you think you might be a Dragon Kin. But. . . none of this seems to fit with our armors!"

"I don't know. . ." said Rowen. "But. . . hey! That looks like my mom's car!"

"How can you recognize it from here?" I said. "Sure the road travels along the lake but come on, Rowen! That's a good two hundred meters away! There's no WAY you could know that was your mom's car! And besides, why would she come out here today? You're birthday was, like, five months ago and-"

"First of all, part of my armor's abilities REQUIRE good eyesight, and second of all, Sage was like a second son to her. She's probably coming to see us to pay her respects," he said. The two of us began to paddle the raft to the docks as Rowen continued. "She just ended a two-week stay in Brazil, so she couldn't come with us on the actual anniversary, and my dad's on a two-month long business trip in Rome." He grinned. "Besides, you can hear that sputtering engine of hers from a mile away."

* * *


End file.
